BEIRUT — Lebanon’s Parliament began debating the 2026 draft general budget on January 27.

The sessions are scheduled over three days, reflecting the government’s urgency to complete and approve the budget before the constitutional deadline at the end of the month.

Approval is also needed to start examining the draft financial regularization law, which cannot be referred to the Finance Committee until the budget is finalized.

The Finance Committee proposed around 15 amendments, including canceling new tax provisions and limiting fee increases to match exchange rate changes.

Major allocations were added, such as 4,500 billion Lebanese pounds for the Ministry of Health for hospitalization and cancer medications, 1,500 billion for the Ministry of Education for the teachers’ fund, 386 billion for the Ministry of Environment, and 1,000 billion for Civil Defense.

Army and security agencies also received extra funds for equipment, deployment, and medical costs.

Additional amendments covered road projects, governorate budgets, the Lebanese University (961 billion pounds), auditing NGOs, and suspending ineffective institutions.

Despite ongoing debates over specific allocations, passing the 2026 budget is seen as urgent to meet constitutional deadlines and maintain legislative and financial stability.